Gaurav Sharma Interview – Gone are the Days Book

Author Gaurav Sharma was born on March 4, 1992, in New Delhi, India. He spent most of his childhood with his grandparents in Sitamarhi, a small town of Bihar. After completing ninth grade from N.S. D.A.V. Public School in Sitamarhi, he made a permanent move to Delhi. He was born in a typical Hindu Brahmin family. However, he is an atheist.

He earned his Bachelor Degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Delhi. While studying for his undergraduate degree, Gaurav interned with several reputed media organisations in India. Headlines Today, Business Standard, NDTV and JIMS Community Radio 90.4 MHz are to name a few. He wrote three textbooks while pursuing his degree in journalism. ‘Design & Graphics Redefined’, ‘Photography Redefined’ and ‘Development and Communication Morphosis’ are those textbooks which he wrote while he was in college. Few teachers along with students who used his books to get good marks (and in some cases just passing marks) in exams appreciated his work. Everyone else simply didn’t care.

After completing his bachelor degree, Gaurav wanted to get an interesting job with a decent salary to begin his career with; but sadly, he couldn’t find any. In November 2014, he decided to pursue his higher studies from abroad. Studying further and going away from everyone and everything seemed an easy alternative to him. In January 2015, he took admission in Langara College, Canada and completed Post Degree Diploma in Business Administration form there. He lived in Vancouver while he was studying at Langara College. He went to Victoria (capital city of British Columbia) in search of a job, lived and worked there for four months and came back. He is presently staying with a family in Burnaby, one of the cities in Metro Vancouver.

What inspired you to start writing?

I started with textbooks. The struggle of my fellow classmates to score good marks and in some cases, score just passing marks, inspired me to do something for them. As I was good in studies back then, I decided to write books related to the subjects I scored highest marks in University exams.

What did you like to read when you were a boy?

I never really read any books/novels when I was younger.

What is the greatest challenge in writing a book?

I think withdrawing time to write is the biggest challenge.

How much research do you do before writing the book?

Well, for the textbooks I had to do a lot of primary and secondary research. I used to spend hours and hours in libraries and on the internet. I regularly consulted my professors and teachers of the respective subjects. However, for my debut novel ‘Gone are the Days’, I did not have to do any type of academic research. Instead, I had to recall my past and write it down in an interesting way, which was rather more difficult than writing textbooks, I admit.

What motivated you to write the book “Gone are the Days”?

After writing three textbooks, I had to step into the world of fiction writing. I had to see what it takes to write a standard 50 thousand words’ novel. I could only experiment on the story of my life. That is why I chose to write my debut novel on my life which is full of mismatch and bumps. And I realised it takes a lot of patience, consistency, creativity and time to write a novel.

Note: My book has a certain degree of profanity. Proceed with caution!

How did you come up with the title?

Who are your favourite authors?

I admire the hard work and dedication of some of my friends who happen to be writers. Also, my own work motivates me to do more of it.

How much time do you dedicate to writing on a daily basis?

Withdrawing time on a daily basis for writing seems tough these days. However, I try my best to write at least 2000 words per week. I have to complete writing my second novel ‘God of the Sullied’ by August 2017 so that I can get it published by the end of this year.

What words of wisdom would you like to give to aspiring writers?

Just write whatever you want and whenever you want and one day, you shall discover the writer in you!

At last, I would like to share a snippet from my novel:

“We middle class people are all same from inside. First things first, I logged into my Facebook account and checked-in there as well. You know what, it is more important to check-in on Facebook than it is to check-in for real at the airport. Let the world which gives zero fucks to what you are doing with your life, know you can afford a plane ticket for economy class. Right?”